In both 2011 and 2012, Huawei hosted three TechWomen mentees during their visit to the Silicon Valley. During these short and busy weeks, I invited all the Huawei TechWomen team (3 mentees, 6 Professional and Cultural mentors, 2 backup-mentors, Human Resources support, etc.) to a weekly meeting to check in with each other, discuss key questions, and practice public speaking. The questions are some that we all expect to be asked when we visit the Grace Hopper Celebration and then the US State Department in Washington DC next week: Why did you join TechWomen? What did you learn? What do you plan to do with what you have learned from TechWomen?
We had our last team meeting yesterday here in Santa Clara. It was moving to hear how much everyone had benefited from TechWomen already. This is a remarkable group of super-smart geeks – I am honored to know them. Some of what the eleven present said:
- I will share what I have learned with my students
- I will tell other technical women in my home country about the TechWomen program, and encourage them to apply
- I will set up seminars and technical talks so that we can exchange experience and technical knowledge, so that we can make better choices in the future
- I will tell my manager and my home organization’s leadership what I learned
- I will design and implement a mentoring program to increase learning and communication
- I will keep my connection with members of the TechWomen community with virtual conferences
- I will change my life, continuing to work hard but also allowing myself time to think how to change the future
- I will work with my staff to prepare them better for promotion
- I will spend more time on my startup company, to benefit the education of children
- I will encourage other technical women to change the world, using examples I have seen in the Silicon Valley
- I will seek more experiences in which I can learn from other technical people outside of my country
- I will tell new hires about the importance of mentoring in their professional lives
- I will work with entrepreneurs to create opportunities for good jobs for educated people in poor areas of the world
- I will provide connections and support for TechWomen emerging leaders when they go home
- I will make space in my life to give back to my community
- I will seek opportunities to make corporate social responsibility a focus for the new generation of companies
- I will continue connecting with extraordinary technical women and spread the message of TechWomen
- I will continue the momentum and follow my passion
Images Copyright 2012 by Katy Dickinson
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